Ford is recalling approximately 433,000 cars in North America because of a glitch that may allow the engine to run after turning the ignition key to the “off” position and removing the key, or after pressing the Engine Start/Stop button.

No surprises over at the Ford’s Paris motor show stand. Main attractions here are the refreshed Focus and C-Max, as well as the production-spec Mondeo and S-Max. The new Mustang is probably the highlight, though, since it now is a sports car that Europeans can consider.

Even though it’s probably a formula with some potential behind it, you won't see a C-MAX ST - sorry folks. Maybe it would, by the way of aggressive sportiness, inject some verve into the compact MPV sector, where the (freshly facelifted) Ford C-Max resides.

It goes without saying that, one of today’s cars’ selling points is safety. However, since it’s no longer just about the passive stuff (crumple zones, seatbelts), and the active (sensor-assisted, self-braking, self-steering) end of the spectrum is where it’s at, the concept itself has become far more nuanced.

Ford has confirmed the lowering of efficiency ratings for six of its models, after the EPA retested the vehicles and discovered a significant discrepancy between what the manufacturer had declared and what the cars were actually capable of achieving in the real world.

Remember the first commercial for the Cadillac ELR featuring actor and producer Neal McDonough? Of course you do, it was considered arrogant and annoying by many international viewers due to its portrayal of an arrogant rich businessman who confuses patriotic statements with laughing at other nations.

Thanks to a mechanical failure that ultimately led to a Jeep Wrangler coming in to rescue the day, our European spies were able to point their cameras on a prototype for the facelifted Ford Grand C-MAX, which is the longer, three-row, 7-seater version of the C-MAX with sliding rear doors (not offered in North America).

Regardless of where the blame lies – be that the freezing conditions in Massachusetts, the driver of the Ferrari and/or the other car reportedly involved in the accident with the gunmetal FF seen in the above photo, a crashed Ferrari is never a pretty sight.

The name leaves no room for confusion: the C-Max Solar Energi Concept harnesses the power of the sun through a solar panel roof and uses it to charge the batteries of the plug-in hybrid vehicle. Ford will debut the concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (January 6-10).

The study’s solar panel roof draws power from a special solar concentrator lens similar to a magnifying glass that directs intense rays to solar panels on the vehicle roof.

Ford announced it has surpassed its previous full-year hybrid sales record set in 2010 of 35,496 vehicles in the first five months of 2013. Through May, Ford is projected to sell around 37,000 hybrid vehicles, accounting for an increase of around 375 percent over the same period last year.

Not that most of the front grilles found on numerous current Ford models don't already hold a strong resemblance to the classic six-point Aston Martin front piece, but the Blue Oval seems hell-bent to make sure we don't have any doubts about that assessment….

After the new North American Fusion, known in the rest of the world as the latest Mondeo, and the facelifted Fiesta, Ford is working on refresh of the front end of the C-MAX, while we will remind you that our spies also recently captured a prototype of the Focus hatchback with its front end masked up (though, as we pointed out at the time, it could be a mule for the RS).